Good grief! Cartoons worth $150,000 to $200,000

Arnold Shapiro didn't know what to expect when a friend secured tickets for the last day of "Antiques Roadshow" during last summer's visit by the PBS television series to Los Angeles.

"The whole experience came out of the blue," said Shapiro, of Long Beach, Calif. "I've never really been a `Roadshow' groupie."

He stood in line for nearly four hours clutching a portfolio of original pencil sketches and comic art, standing along with hundreds of others seeking appraisals.

Although a portion of Shapiro's art was unsigned, he knew it was the work of Charles Schulz, because the "Peanuts" cartoon artist gave it to him. He knew it had value, but he never imagined that when he finally got to tell his story, it would receive the highest appraisal for collectibles in "Roadshow" history.

It was the last appraisal to be filmed for the season and as Shapiro started to tell how he came to acquire the collection of drawings, the room fell silent.

While working for Hallmark in Kansas City, Mo., in 1960, Shapiro came up with the idea for a line of cards featuring Schulz's "Peanuts" characters -- Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang.

"In those days, Hallmark was not all that interested in using licensed characters on its cards," he said. "But I was a `Peanuts' fan."

In the cartoon strip, when Charlie Brown gets set to kick a football, holder Lucy snatches it away at the last moment, leaving him to whiff and tumble. Shapiro would take no chance that fate would snatch away his big opportunity.

After the company reluctantly agreed, Shapiro assured the success of the "Peanuts" line by buying out the cards at the stores where they were being tested. His sense of the commercial potential proved accurate: By 1972 when Shapiro left Hallmark, the company was selling $5 million worth of "Peanuts" products annually.

For 12 years Shapiro worked closely with Schulz, who also was known as Sparky.

Shapiro went on to tell the appraiser how he had become friends with the artist and his wife and had visited their Northern California home. He recalls staying for dinner and playing bridge at their house when their work was completed.

He remembers the evening Schulz's wife said, "Well, I guess you've figured out that Sparky is Charlie Brown and I'm Lucy."

Shapiro recounted how the collection of Schulz's drawings and early comic strips Schulz had given him had been sitting on a closet shelf for more than 30 years.

These stories added authenticity to what appraiser Philip Weiss already knew. With 40 years in the collectibles trade and auction experience with the early work of Charles Schulz, "I knew what I was looking at," Weiss said.

"It is very unusual to see art like this pop up fresh to the market," the New York appraiser said.